Wickedly Inspirational Women – Meet Moot the revolutionary British brand creating lingerie for the male form.
Here at Something Wicked we like to think that we keep some of the best company out there, and we love to collaborate with the daring, the desirable and the fearless. As a brand we stand for empowerment, and we strive to continue the important conversations around sex positivity, destigmatising pleasure, and creating a healthy space for everyone to explore their desires. In our latest Wickedly Inspirational Women Interview we speak with the amazing Anna, from Moot Lingerie, a revolutionary British brand that creates beautiful lingerie for the male form.
Tell us a bit about yourself, name, age, where you live?
I am Anna, I’m 48 and I live in Sussex. I am the day to day operations manager of Moot Lingerie, a revolutionary and groundbreaking lingerie brand for men.
What do you do?
I work with Jules Parker, who took the brave step of placing himself front and foremost in his start up, designing the most amazing lingerie pieces for male-shaped bodies. He continues to be a metal-worker as well as designing for men, so I undertake all the behind the scenes jobs of running a small brand. Ordering the materials we need, coordinating with the UK makers (SW!) and the seamstress here in Sussex, the jeweller who creates our beadwork for the Crown Jules, the orders, packing, social media, PR, client communications and general website managing. I get to think about photshoots and models, how the lingerie looks on guys and how best to showcase what we do so that different wearers will feel represented.
It has been an almighty challenge to launch a male lingerie brand! If you realise how difficult it is for all lingerie creators to navigate media censorship, multiply that by about 50 and you might get to where we are with Moot. Social media advertising will not tolerate us at all and the subject of men in lingerie has so many instant dismissals and judgements that you can feel how terrifying it is for some people to face that they might just find it just too damn attractive. And then what do we do?!
As a brand we stand for empowerment, and we strive to continue the important conversations around sex positivity, destigmatising pleasure, and creating a healthy space for everyone to explore their desires.
What led you to where you are now?
I have a very non-standard route into a career in the lingerie industry, although I am inclined to think given the people I have met in the industry so far, none of us have had a ‘traditional’ route, so I am probably in the majority! I was a teacher for 23 years before swapping the whiteboard and whistle for the Tanga and Thong. I knew Jules through his lovely wife Clare, and when she asked if I wanted to come on board to help him realise the dream of launching Moot, I knew it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do something seriously exciting, and something important in the world of gender equity and experience.
Can you tell us 5 words to describe yourself?
Stepping. Into. My. Own. Power.
How do you feel when you wear lingerie as opposed to underwear?
It’s all about the ‘Raising the Game’ vibe. It’s enough, when you know that you have gorgeous lingerie, even if no one else will see it, to make you feel that bit more fantastic than you would if you had chosen the greying ‘Bridget Joneses’ that day. I think there are times when the greying Bridgets and t-shirt bra is the right choice, but the empowering feeling of celebrating yourself and dressing with more care and consideration is not to be underestimated. I think top jobs have probably been clinched on days where no one saw the fantastic lingerie foundations helping the woman who went, powerfully, into that room, to know that she could do it and she was worth it.
What is currently your favourite piece of lingerie that you own and why?
I have a pair of SW Ava high-waisted knickers that are the most luxurious pants I have ever owned! The team in Leeds made them for me and I got to experience the absolute joy of opening that black box and lifting the buttery soft leather and mesh from the tissue paper. So gorgeous! I do not wear them enough, I am definitely guilty of saving them for high days and holidays whilst telling other people to wear the good stuff because life is too short!
What does female empowerment mean to you?
It means knowing what you like, by yourself, without the influence of others telling you what you should or should not enjoy. Wearing lingerie and being a badass sexy Queen, is not necessarily empowerment by itself. If you have been guided towards something by another person’s wishes, then that is not empowerment. To me, as long as you are authentically serving yourself, without harm to others – if you are aware of what you want to do with your time, your freedom and your money and you do that, (despite any eye rolls and tutting or jealous words behind your back) then that is female empowerment. It may be as simple as dressing as you wish, it may be chasing the career you have always dreamed of, it may be motherhood, it may be learning to drive a truck or becoming a charity shop volunteer. It is the act of women having the ultimate agency in their own lives.
What do you do to make yourself empowered/liberated/confident?
I work full time and earn all my own money. I decided to own a dog without asking another person if I could. I have only my name on my mortgage deeds. I also like make up and wearing gorgeous things from vintage shops. There isn’t just one thing I do to feel empowered. It changes.
‘Female sexuality is no longer a taboo’ Do you agree with this statement?
It’s got better, but there is still a long way to go! There is still the dichotomy of ‘Madonna / Whore’ that pervades all levels of society – it may be more normal to come out and say that you enjoy sex and you are a sexual being, but from then on you will be labelled as that ‘sex-obsessed’ woman. Men do not have to deal with the either / or. It is accepted that they probably do want to have sex as often as possible, but they are also free to be dads and estate agents and graphic designers and triathletes as well. The sex bit doesn’t wholly define them. We may have started to be able to talk about female sexuality more easily in the UK and other similarly structured places, but there is compelling evidence to suggest that many locations exist to this day where women are held in brutal oppression of any semblance of sexuality beyond that which is to do with reproducing or satisfying men. There is a long way to go and it is true that no woman is truly free until we all are.
What message would you give to your younger self eg as a teenager?
You were once someone’s beloved baby and child. You too were looked at with dreams and hopes. You have a voice. You can make choices. You are worthy of having a say when it’s time to make decisions. Do not dull your desires to follow another person’s path, they are only equal to you. Walk hand in hand. Do not fall behind and simply follow.
Discover Moot on their website Moot lingerie and follow them on instagram @the.moot.revolution
